Hometown of Lance Armstrong set to roll out bike-rental kiosks

According to the Daily Texan, bicycle-rental kiosks should soon be springing up around Austin, Texas, thanks to the upcoming Bike Share Program of a local bike shop and a city planning agency:

The program began in December when the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization agreed to give a $1.5 million grant to a private partner if they were willing to raise an additional $500,000 to get the program started. Craig Staley, general manager of Lance Armstrong's Mellow Johnny's Bike Shop, said he offered to be the private partner and has received sponsorships from Austin companies to support the program.

"We all think of Austin as a big cyclist city and know it is cheaper to paint a white stripe down the road for a new bike lane than it is to buy more buses that will congest downtown anyway," Staley said.

Bike Share kiosks will be set up where customers can rent bikes to ride to their destinations and then leave at another kiosk, where the bike sharing cycle continues, he said.

The Bike Share Program will start with about 450 bikes at kiosks situated around downtown and East Austin.